Balancing Malt Body with Body from Mash

[jbock220]

I'm looking for experience with balancing body. If I add malts for body, say +/-15% flaked barley for a creaminess, will a medium body mash (152*) be too much?

 

[wonderbread23]

There are a large number of variables that determine "body" in a beer. Hopping, starting gravity, yeast strain, recipe (other malts like crystal), attenuation level, water chemistry, etc. all come into play.

I think you're alluding to this fact and acknowledging that it is a sliding scale where variables are interrelated.

 

[jbock220]

Yeah, you could put it that way. But do you have any experience of how to counter balance one against the other?

 

[grathan]

152 won't be too much. DO you even do a mash out step? I probably am the wrong person to comment because I don't either. But higher mash temp would be less fermentable, which means higher Final Gravity. Which means you also have to take yeast strain and attenuation level into consideration.

 

[Adam_Selene]

This may not be your cup of tea, but over time I'v fallen into the habbit of front loading body with barley flakes, and mashing on the cold side. No mash out. Good long slow sparge. The usual result is a dry beer that has texture, without the sweetness.

Even if you mash on the hot side I would recomend barley flakes. Only exsperience, and your own personal taste will tell you how much is too much. Anecdotaly, I've used as much (as) 3 pounds without any trouble. Try half a pound first.

EDIT: I forgot: Yes, lots is good, but not %50 percent of the grist unless you are a rice hull ninja.

Cheers.
--Adam Selene.

 

[jbock220]

Now that's what I'm talking about. Thanks Gratham & Adam, I can chew on those comments for sure.

I've been vacillating between mash-out and not. I got cold feet a couple of brews ago when I over shot and nearly denatured the whole batch. Your comment definitely has got me thinking though - dry finish w/body... These are the fine points of technique I'm always looking for. I like where this is going.

I ran across using 15% flaked barley for something, and have been using that as a go to number for creamy body (maxing at 15%). I'll mash on the lower end and see how this next parti-gyle comes out (Stout/Northern Brown). If it's a tad thin or medium heavy, I'll be happy with it. Good to know you make some compensation though.

I remember now, I used it on a saison I wanted body in (suggested from somewhere - probably a Beersmith podcast). I used 1-lb of rice hulls and the sparge was really slow, took 3 hours to pull ~6 gal. Came out right on the money though. I'll keep that part of the recipe in mind when I taste it and see how it balanced.

Thanks again for the input. Incidentally the saison was for a competition next month, so wish me luck!